Legal provisions of COM(2013)743 - EU position on amending the Protocol concerning Special Protected Areas and Biological Biodiversity in the Mediterranean and on the Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter

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dossier COM(2013)743 - EU position on amending the Protocol concerning Special Protected Areas and Biological Biodiversity in the Mediterranean and ...
document COM(2013)743 EN
date October 25, 2013

Contents

Article 1

At the Eighteenth Ordinary Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols, the position of the European Union shall be to support the addition of the following species to Annex II to the Protocol and their respective deletion from Annex III:

· Antipatella subpinnata (Ellis & Solander, 1786);

· Antipathes dichotoma (Pallas, 1766);

· Antipathes fragilis (Gravier, 1918);

· Leiopathes glaberrima (Esper, 1792);

· Parantipathes larix (Esper, 1790);

And the inclusion of the following species into Annex II:

· Callogorgia verticillata (Pallas, 1766);

· Cladocora caespitosa (Linnaeus, 1767);

· Cladocora debilis (Edwards & Haime, 1849);

· Ellisella paraplexauroides (Stiasny, 1936);

· Lophelia pertusa (Linnaenus, 1758);

· Madrepora oculata (Linnaeus, 1758).

Article 2

At this meeting, the position of the European Union shall also be to support, in the framework of the implementation of Article 15 of the Protocol for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution from Land-Based Sources and Activities, the adoption of the Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter.

The representatives of the Union will endeavor to ensure that prior to adoption the text is slightly amended to:

- reflect the need to establish guidelines and discuss good practices on fishing for litter,

- advocate for the compatibility of the Mediterranean Regional Data Bank on marine litter with other regional or overarching databases,

- include microplastics in the definition of marine litter, and

- reinforce the references to the involvement of stakeholders.

Minor changes to this position may be agreed to by the representatives of the Union in the Eighteenth Ordinary Meeting of the Contracting Parties without further decision of the Council.